As soon as Ling Yi left, Pat dropped the professional image he had worked so hard to maintain.

“Your Highness, are you sure you want to do this?”

Oser’s expression was calm: “He took the initiative to propose the terms of the agreement. I didn’t force him.”

Pat grabbed his hair in distress: “You say that, but…..did you carefully look over the information that Captain Tang De took from me?”

“Although I developed the transformation theory, I’ve never put it into practice on a real person. All existing data is computer-simulated, and the success rate is even less than twenty percent.”

As Oser looked down at him from the corner of his eye, the one under his gaze felt a tremendous pressure.

“You’ve applied for a huge amount of funding from me every year in the name of this project. I’ve never withheld a penny from you. Don’t tell me that the hundred page-long research report is just a perfunctory attempt to deal with me.”

Pat shrank back at once: “How could I? I definitely don’t intend to cheat you out of funds.”

“I’m just worried about Ling Yi’s extraordinary status in the eyes of the people. Last week alone, there were over a dozen marches and protests in his honor across the country. Word of this will get out sooner or later, and by then the public pressure against you will be unprecedented.”

“You mean that I should pardon him unconditionally? Use the throne that’s within my grasp to pardon a murderer I’ve never met before? Do you think I’m a philanthropist?”

“That’s not what I meant…..” Pat muttered softly. 

“If Ling Yi hadn’t come here, he would be dead on the execution grounds by now. I gave him another chance to survive.”

“But even if he died on the execution grounds, he would still be a hero to the people. If he dies on the operating table, I’ll be a criminal to the people.” Pat’s voice went lower and lower.

Oser locked eyes with him and said: “Listen carefully. If he doesn’t leave the operating table alive, I can’t guarantee he’ll be the only one who never leaves that operating room.”

Pat swallowed nervously. He had become accustomed to His Highness Oser’s half-true, half-false method of speaking over the years.

But this time, he had no doubt that every word he spoke was the truth.

. . . . . . .

The Royal Medical College was equipped with advanced technology. Ling Yi stood in a type of glass chamber he had never seen before, mist spraying from every direction to cover his entire body.

When he walked out ten minutes later, the musty, bloody scent of the prison was gone.

The hospital bed was more comfortable than the ones in the military academy, and Ling Yi reclined back as Nan Ting injected him with nutrients.

“Is there no real food?” Ling Yi asked half-jokingly. “It’s been a long time since I laid eyes on a steaming hot meal. A bowl of hot soup is more effective than nutritional supplements.”

Nan Ting was apologetic: “I’m sorry, but it’s not suitable to eat or drink before an operation.”

Ling Yi gave her a faint smile: “Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault. I should be the one apologizing for getting you imprisoned here with me.”

“Don’t apologize.” Nan Ting shook her head repeatedly. “I’m used to working overtime.” 

She hesitated before saying: “It shouldn’t be a problem if you secretly eat a piece of chocolate. I have low blood sugar, so I carry some with me.”

She took a chocolate candy from her pocket and handed it to Ling Yi.

Ling Yi peeled off the outer layer of gold foil and put the chocolate in his mouth. The sweetness melted layer by layer on the tip of his tongue, stimulating his nearly degenerated taste buds.

“Is it bitter?” Nan Ting saw his contemplative look and thought the taste wasn’t to his liking.

“Bitter?” Ling Yi smiled bitterly. “This is the sweetest thing I’ve eaten in the past three months. I almost forgot what sweetness tasted like.”

When Ling Yi was changing clothes just now, Nan Ting happened to see the mottled bruises on his body, and could basically guess what kind of inhumane life he had lived in the three months following his arrest.

She took out all of her chocolates and handed them to him: “These are all I have.”

“Are all of the nurses at the Royal Medical College as kind-hearted as you?”

Nan Ting blushed. The charm emanating from the young Alpha was equally effective on Betas and Omegas.

“Actually, me and all my friends think you’re innocent. The day you were sentenced, lots of people I know protested outside the courthouse. If I wasn’t working overtime, I would have gone too.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t go. That day, a terrorist launched a biological attack in front of the courthouse. Not only Alphas, but even Betas weren’t immune.”

“Really?” Nan Ting’s eyes widened in horror.

“It’s absolutely true.”

“Then it was quite gentlemanly of the terrorist to not affect the Omegas.”

Ling Yi laughed. It may not be that the terrorist didn’t want to, but that he didn’t have the ability.

Nan Ting thought of something else that puzzled her.

“But the news this morning said you’d been taken to the execution grounds. Why are you here at the medical college?”

If Ling Yi was here, who was that person being taken to the execution grounds on the news?

“Because someone told me that if I get through this operation, I don’t have to die.”

“Who told you that? There is no exemption for volunteers, but they’ll receive a large sum of money that can be left to a designated individual.”

“What if someone forces a person to undergo surgery for profit?”

“This has happened before, so new regulations were put in place. The agreement must be signed by an independent, able-minded adult for the consent to be considered valid.”

A thought suddenly occurred to Nan Ting: “Could it be that His Highness Oser forced you to come here?”

She thought back to their interactions. Although Ling Yi had said he would cooperate, his muscles were stiff and his eyes hung low, which were obvious physical signs of resistance.

Ling Yi pursed his lips and looked away: “Of course not.”

Nan Ting clocked his micro-expressions. When she was studying in medical school, psychology was a compulsory course.

How could the prime minister’s family be like this? The son molested this person’s underage brother, and the grandson tricked him into becoming a medical experiment.

“If that’s the case, you have every right to refuse to sign the surgery consent form.”

“If you don’t sign it, the operation can’t be carried out. Not to mention His Highness, even His Majesty can’t force you.”

“Really?”

Ling Yi smiled and lowered his head, as if he had heard an unrealistic suggestion but was too polite to refute it.

The spirit of justice burned fiercely in Nan Ting’s heart.

“Although there’s a limit to what I can do, if there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know.”

Ling Yi gave it some thought.

“I have completely lost contact with the outside world. If you hear any news from outside, especially news from the northern outskirts, please tell me.”

This wasn’t a difficult request. Nan Ting nodded vigorously: “I’ll do my best to find out for you.”

Ling Yi thought that with all of his concerns, he would be unable to sleep peacefully.

But the contrast between the hospital bed and the hard bedboard in prison was too great, and after not having a good rest for a very long time, he drowsily fell asleep.

Until the moment aggressive pheromones broke through his dreams. Ling Yi jumped up vigilantly and elbowed the source of the pheromones.

Jumping out of bed in such a way required great strength in the waist.

This was an extremely explosive counterattack in combat training, specifically designed to deal with sneak attacks. With strong enough force behind it, one elbow could kill a person.

Ling Yi moved with great speed, but his attacker was even faster, catching the full-strength blow with his hand.

Ling Yi was flipped over in mid-air and forcefully pressed back onto the bed.

Even Ling Yi’s instructor couldn’t have pulled off such a powerful counterattack.

And the feeling of being pinned from behind and unable to move coincided with an unpleasant memory.

The attacker suppressed him with just one hand. With the other, he touched the flexible contours of his lower back in an ambiguous manner.

Ling Yi’s scalp felt as if it had received an electric shock, and he almost instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Low, scornful laughter came from above his head where he couldn’t see.

“You have pretty good waist strength.”

When he heard this voice, Ling Yi forced himself to relax his muscles bit by bit until he was in a submissive posture with no hint of resistance to be seen.

His instincts warned him of danger, but his reasoning reminded him that he couldn’t fight this person.

“Pat said you should rest well before the surgery. I see now that you’re in good condition.”

Oser gave an unlicensed medical consultation.

“You’re just a little overly energetic.”

After forcing himself to relax, Ling Yi lay on the bed with his eyes half closed, looking as if he had just gone through a sweaty exercise routine.

“Your Highness’s pheromones are too strong. It was a conditioned reflex.”

Alphas were born with a strong sense of territory, and approaching another Alpha with unrestrained pheromones was essentially a provocation.

“I didn’t scare you with pheromones this time.”

“…..”

Ling Yi turned his head to the other side with great effort and glanced up at Oser from the corner of his eye, his expression full of doubt.

Oser laughed again. From this position, Ling Yi could only see his sculpted jaw and the cynical curve of his mouth.

“What’s that look for? You don’t believe me? Why would I attack a sleeping person with pheromones? I also want you to sleep and regain your strength.”

Ling Yi reflected on this. As Oser said, he hadn’t released pheromones indiscriminately, but the oppressive feeling in his dreams was very real.

And there was only one explanation for this.

If an Alpha didn’t restrain his pheromones, he would continue to cause “trouble” for the Omegas around him.

Therefore, the Alpha physiology class was jokingly called “the gentlemen’s class.” This course was compulsory, so that Alphas could politely restrain their aggressive pheromones.

Just like beasts evolving into humans, they had to wear a veneer of courtesy.

Alphas learned to restrain their nature during adolescence, when their primitive instincts were the strongest. As adults, they could control their pheromones as easily as breathing, and could send and receive them freely as needed.

But His Royal Highness Oser was different.

His own pheromones didn’t cause trouble for Omegas, so he naturally didn’t understand the importance of pheromone restraint.

This genetically mutated Alpha had grown up to be barbaric within the context of civilized society.

He was like a highly intelligent beast running around unclothed in the human community, with no awareness of the fact that he was naked.

“Your hair is wet again.”

Oser stroked his hair affectionately: “Why is your mental strength so fragile?”

Ling Yi didn’t intend to argue.

Oser had already released him, but he continued to lay there motionless, allowing the other party to move him to and fro as if resigned to his fate.

But suddenly, his pupils constricted. His relaxed muscles tensed once more, and his invisible barbs bristled.

After running his fingers through the roots of his wet hair, Oser continued the motion down to his neck, slowly rubbing the most taboo place.

Ling Yi looked like he might jump out of bed at any moment and punch him hard in the face. This was what any normal Alpha would do.

But he gritted his teeth and endured it, wrinkling the white sheets in his fists.

“Your Highness,” he hissed through clenched teeth, each word brimming with provocation, “Has anyone ever told you that an Alpha’s taboo area can’t be touched casually?”

Oser’s voice made him sound particularly worthy of a beating: “I’m an Alpha too. Why do you think I don’t know that?”

Because I just realized that you may be lacking some common sense when it comes to Alpha physiology.

“I do wonder,” he said, drawing slow circles with his fingertip around that dangerous area, “what you would do if I took a bite right now.”

Ling Yi rolled over and grabbed that restless hand tightly, the skin around his knuckles whitening.

“You look so fierce right now. Like you want to kill someone,” Oser said in a light tone.

“Were you wearing the same look when you killed Lu Dawa?”

Ling Yi glared fiercely for a moment, but then his hostility faded away little by little until only charm remained in his eyes.

“If Your Highness wanted to forcibly possess an Alpha, you’ve had plenty of opportunities to do so in the past.”

“But Your Highness has not, which means you’re not interested in Alphas. You have no intention of biting me at all. You’re just messing with me.”

He held Oser’s hand lightly, and the action became more intimate.

“Your Highness has never had the urge to mark someone.”

“When an Alpha wants to possess an Omega, they wouldn’t react the way you did just now.”

Ling Yi parted his lips slightly, and the faintly visible tip of his pink tongue licked from one canine tooth to the other, his eyes gradually narrowing.

Half of the oxygen in the room was instantly sucked away.

“Every Alpha will have this physical reaction without any teaching or textbook guidance.”

Oser’s voice lowered: “So are you teaching me now?”

“Your Highness is incredibly influential, and you can get whatever you want. You must rarely experience the pleasure of delayed gratification.”

“If Your Highness can be a little more patient and wait until the operation is over before using pheromones on me, at that point, more than just my hair will be wet. This is the only advance payment I can give you.”

Ling Yi pulled the other’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

This one action alone exhausted nearly all of his remaining restraint.

Oser stared at him for a long while with a half-smile in his eyes, then pulled his hand from the other’s fingers.

“You’ve convinced me. I’ll let you off this time.”

Ling Yi felt immense relief.

“And I promise you.”

“As long as you fulfill our agreement, I will ensure that your family, friends, cats, and dogs are safe and sound.”

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Chapter 4 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 6